Thai One On - Lettuce Wraps!

I've been off my blogging game a bit lately, sorry, Peeps!  It's been a laid back kind of week, and I've been doing much of nothing other than wasting time and catching up on sleep.  However, I think I'm almost back in the groove and should be cranking out some yummy food, and subsequent posts for you pretty soon.

However, the other day I managed to make an old book club favorite - Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce  Wraps.  Now, mind you, I didn't really follow the directions, since I've been making lettuce wraps for a couple of years now, but I did follow along with the general premise.

First off, the ingredients:

I used pre-marinated/cooked teriyaki chicken, some basil, romaine lettuce, bell pepper, and cucumber.  I just bought some Thai peanut sauce, instead of making it from scratch.  I bought the generic because they were out of my favorite: 

House of Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce. I also had some leftover rice (made in a pineapple juice/water/tomato bouillon stock) that I mixed the chopped basil into because it's filling and needed to be eaten.  Easy peasy.

 

For the first time, I got to use my julienne peeler.  I have always hated when a recipe calls for anything "julienned" because that means a lot of time trying to make teensy tiny little cuts.  This thing made quick work of my cucumber, and now I'm excited to find as many recipes with julienned ingredients as possible so I can get more work out of this beauty.  Who knew I'd be a kitchen gadget freak like mom?!  I think I'll need a second kitchen soon, too!!

 

The rest of the recipe was quite simple.  I used my food chopper for the meat and peanuts, and just quickly sliced the bell pepper with my handy dandy all-purpose knife.  It's was simple from then on out, just mix and put into bowls.

 

I love pre-prepped food, like the teriyaki pre-cooked chicken.  It was warm outside, but my kitchen stayed cool as I prepped up this meal.  A summer must!

 

 

You can see my pretty cucumbers on the left, up top is the basil rice, then the red bell peppers, and my chicken/peanut sauce/peanut mixture (as called for in the recipe).  I did warm the chicken up for about two minutes in the microwave to take the extra fridge-chill off.

 

Up top is the romain lettuce, which makes for easy loading and eating.  I chose this over a head of lettuce because you just have to cut off the base, wash, and eat.  Far easier than unraveling a head of lettuce, in my opinion.  You want something sturdy, but easy, on a dish like this.

 

Finally, I put out extra peanut sauce and chopped peanuts in little bowls to drizzle.  Then you just load up as much of whatever you'd like and dig in.  It's amazing!!

 

 

 

Don't be afraid to load up on your favorite ingredients.  It's like a room temperature burrito!

 

Thomas models his perfectly wrapped lettuce wrap!

Just add a little sunshine - we ate outside - and enjoy!